Italy coach Mauro Berruto: "We had a clear goal today and that was to win 3-0. It didn't happen. Iran was strong serving and blocking in the third set. If we don't make it (third place) it will be because of set ratio. I am proud of my players and staff. We fought until the very end. I agree with Julio (regarding tournament conditions). I don't want to be the one to complain. I think the players are the ones who put on the show and they should have the best conditions".

Iran coach Julio Velasco: "We didn't play so well in the first and second sets. We improved because we won a set against one of the best teams. We must play many more matches against teams like this. We are building a team and player like Ghafour and Fayazi really benefitted from the experience they got in this tournament. The World Cup is the hardest tournament. It is harder than the world championships because of the number of matches and cities. It is very difficult. I think the FIVB must evaluate this event and ask why the conditions are not the same for everybody. Volleyball is the only sport where this is the case. The issue of Olympic qualification is a very important one and volleyball doesn't do it by continent like the other sports. Why does the Japan game always get a 10-minute break after the second set and everybody else gets 90 seconds? It doesn't make sense, because the game is not on live TV. These are the types of questions that have to be looked at. I urge the FIVB to examine this".

Italy player Michal Lasko: "We are happy we won. We wanted to win 3-0 to get third place. Now we have to hope Japan can take two sets off Brazil".

Iran captain Alireza Nadi: "It was a very long tournament. We have become a bit tired. Most of our games were at 11:00AM. It did affect the quality of our performance. We are satisfied with our performance overall. We know that we can play better".

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